Opening Remarks
at the Youth Forum
by H.E. Cho Tae-yul
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs

September 2, 2013
Yonsei University

Good morning. Welcome to the Youth Forum for the Seoul Conference on Cyberspace. I am pleased to be here today with so many outstanding young people from around the world.

Let me begin by thanking President Kim Dongwook of Korea Information Society Development Institute, and Dr. Sohn Yul, Dean of Yonsei University’s Graduate School of International Studies, for organizing this important Forum.

I would also like to congratulate the winners of the Global Essay Competition of the Youth Forum, especially Christian Zamora Jaen from Costa Rica who won first prize. Almost 300 people from more than 50 countries participated in the competition, and I am told the judges were quite impressed by the number of creative, intelligent, and passionate entries. I believe this bears witness to the growing interest of our younger generation in shaping the future of our cyberspace.

(Cyberspace in Today’s World)

In fact, since William Gibson coined the term “cyberspace” in a science fiction novel three decades ago, cyberspace has developed leaps and bounds to become a new frontier with endless opportunities. It has revolutionized our daily lives and is creating unprecedented economic and social benefits across the globe.

But as an evolving frontier, cyberspace is also becoming more vulnerable to attacks and exploitations. And these vulnerabilities are bound to increase as more activities find their way onto cyber platforms.

Hackers could potentially attack military systems as well as critical civilian infrastructure -- such as transportation systems, electrical grids, financial systems and communications -- as they are increasingly operated through cyberspace. This could lead to widespread disruptions of daily life and, more importantly, pose a serious threat to national security. In short, cyber attacks can be powerful ‘weapons of mass disruption’ that can potentially develop into ‘weapons of mass destruction’.

For this reason, some now recognize cyberspace as the fifth domain of warfare, together with land, air, sea and outer space. Simply put, cyber warfare that we merely enjoyed in yesterday’s movies has become today’s reality.

Cybercrime targeting individuals and businesses is also on the rise. It was recently estimated that cybercrime is costing the global economy around $500 billion annually. This is almost as much as the estimated cost of drug trafficking. And these costs are likely to increase as hacking continues to grow in size and intensity.

At the same time, many are losing out on the opportunities to reap the economic benefits that the digital revolution has to generously offer. 4.5 billion of the 7 billion people on the planet today still do not have access to the Internet. For many, the notion backed by the United Nations last year that ‘Internet access is a human right’ rings hollow.

Against this rapidly changing cyber landscape, I believe the time has come for the international community to work together, with a sense of urgency, to address the growing cyber threats, while ensuring that every global citizen benefits from the digital revolution.

(Seoul Conference on Cyberspace 2013)

With this in mind, the Korean government decided to host the Conference on Cyberspace in Seoul this coming October. The Conference aims to provide the platform for world leaders to get together and discuss ways to keep our cyberspace secure and open.

The Conference will also focus on helping developing countries create a vibrant Internet economy and strengthen their cyber security. This will hopefully contribute to closing the global digital divide in the long run.

Coming to an agreement on the way forward at the Conference will be challenging. Many countries hold different views on how to best address cyber issues domestically and globally. But I believe we can at least all agree that the reasons to cooperate are far more compelling than the issues that divide us.

As you know, today’s discussions at the Youth Forum will be shared with the global leaders attending the Seoul Conference in October. To make sound decisions that put the world on a prosperous path, leaders need to hear from you – the leaders of tomorrow.

(Young People as Agents of Digital Revolution)

You are a reservoir of talent and enthusiastic agents of change. History shows that, no matter how great the challenges are, the idealism, the drive and the passion of the young people have given us hope.

Time and again, we have seen dynamic young people challenging the status quo by leading democratic movements and breaking new ground in technology. Steve Jobs who is described as the ‘Father of the Digital Revolution,’ started Apple when he was twenty to transform it into one of the most influential global companies only a decade later.

And today you are the leading actors in cyberspace, and the architects of its future. Some of the most popular social networking sites were created on college campuses. Your generation represents the most highly engaged segment of social networkers.

Your voice today, therefore, will be decisive. Your hopes and inputs will light the way forward. And I hope that each and every one of you will actively engage in today’s debate. This will help policymakers, like myself, and other stakeholders to shape our cyberspace to become freer, safer and more prosperous.

I am confident that our common efforts to harness the collective wisdom from all generations on the future of our cyberspace will pave the way for a well-connected, thriving global village in the years to come.

Thank you.